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REPORT 



OF THE 



COMMITTEE ON PUNS &ND IMPROVEMENTS 



Commisswners of Jairmount |)arfi, 



L 



UPON THE 



EXTENSION OF THE PARK. 



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PHILADELPHIA: 

KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 SANSOM STREET. 

1868. 




F.£»ui-i{uin Lith Philada 



REPORT 



COMMITTEE ON PLANS AND IMPROVEMENTS 



LUau<U J ^^Commissioners of Jfairmonnt ^arh, C & m.o-H pi>- 



UPON THE 



EXTENSION OF THE PARK. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
KING & BAIRD, PRINTERS, 607 SANSOM STREET. 

1868. 

Gojovj 2-, 






At a meeting of the Commissioners of Fair- 
mount Park, held January 25th, 1868, the following 
Report was presented and approved. 

MORTON McMICHAEL, 

President. 

Joseph F. Marcer, 

Secretary. 



To the 

COMMISSIONERS OF FAIRMOUNT PARK. 

Gentlemen": The Committee on Plans and Improve- 
ments respectfully report that the resolution of the Com- 
mission, requesting them to consider and report within 
what boundaries, in their judgment, it is desirable and 
proper that the contemplated Park should be contained, 
has received the careful attention which its great import- 
ance demands. In arriving at the conclusions which they 
report, they have endeavored to forecast the prospective 
wants of this great and growing City, and to provide for 
the preservation of pure water, and of an open public place 
or Park for the health and enjoyment, not only of the 
living generation, but also of those which shall succeed it. 

A brief statement of the reasons which have influenced 
the opinion of the Committee will conduce to a better un- 
derstanding of their report, and will help, as they hope, to 
persuade the judgment of the Councils of the City, whose 
right and duty it is to decide the question of the proper 
boundaries of the Park. 

The City of Philadelphia derives its water supply from 
a stream which passes directly through it, and elevates the 
water into distributing reservoirs from points within its 
limits, which are already surrounded by the population of 



the City, and which, at no distant day, will be densely 
peopled, if such provision as this report contemplates is 
neglected to be made. 

This water supply — hitherto of unsurpassed abundance, 
and of unequalled purity — is adequate for the prospective 
wants of the people for generations to come, if proper 
economy is observed in its elevation into and storage in 
reservoirs, and proper provision is made to protect and 
preserve its purity. 

It is not proposed in this report to state the reasons 
upon which this conclusion is based. These may be found 
in the report of another Committee of this Commission, 
whose education and experience peculiarly fit them for the 
investigation of such questions. 

" The preservation of the purity of the water supply of 
the City of Philadelphia," is declared, in the Act of Assem- 
bly which creates this Commission, to be one of the chief 
objects of the Park which the Commission is required to 
lay out and establish; and hence, in selecting the lines 
which the Committee recommend, they have had steadily 
before them this great and important purpose of the law 
under which we are acting. 

Now, if ever, while it is yet possible to be done at a cost 
which is moderate, when compared with its advantages, we 
must possess the ground which surrounds our water supply 
so closely that the impurities which are drained from its 
surface must necessarily be drawn into the reservoirs, and 
by preventing the erection of dwellings and manufactories 
upon the shores of the basin, and of the waters closely ad- 
jacent, provide against the pollution of the water, which is 



the sole supply for domestic uses of the present and of the 
future population of this vast and rapidly growing City. 
If we fail to do so, and our population continues to increase 
in the ratio of our past progress, twenty years will not pass 
before the shores of the Schuylkill will be crowded with 
dwellings and manufactories, pouring their impurities into 
the basin, and compelling the City, at enormous cost, 
either to build fresh works at some other point where pure 
water for domestic uses may be had, or else to acquire the 
very ground — the purchase of which we now recommend, 
while its cost is moderate — when its price will have been 
so enhanced as to make its acquisition almost impracticable. 
No one who has watched the growth of this City for the 
last twenty years, and observed how steadily it tends to the 
north and northwest, can be indifferent to these considera- 
tions. 

The convenience of the river for manufacturing purposes, 
and the high ground and picturesque beauty of the north- 
western portions of the City, on both sides of the Schuylkill, 
attract population, and the owners- of the land are watch- 
ing with interest the steady approach of improvements 
that are pushing toward and will presently reach and sur- 
round them. 

Our population, in twenty years, will probably be a 
million and a half, and very soon this object, so desirable 
and now so attainable, will have passed beyond our reach. 

Independently of these considerations, the ground we 
propose to acquire is peculiarly adapted to Park purposes. 
No other city in the Union has, within its boundaries, 
streams which, in picturesque and romantic beauty, can 



6 

compare with the Wissahickon and the Schuylkill; and, 
there are few, if any, which include within their limits 
landscapes which, in sylvan grace and beauty, surpass those 
which abound within the space we propose to appropriate. 
Nature herself has so adorned them that little remains for 
art to do, except skilfully, with cautious good taste, to open 
such paths as may best develop the natural beauties of the 
ground. Here through long coming generations, when 
with passing time our overflowing population shall have 
embosomed these spacious grounds with the homes of the 
people of a vast and prosperous city, will this Park con- 
tinue — a monument of the wisdom and the foresight of 
those who founded it — protecting the purity and securing 
the abundance of their water supply; ministering in its 
clear air and ample grounds to their health and enjoyment, 
and in the beauty and grace of its natural and its artificial 
adornments to the refinement of their taste ; while to the 
spots already of historic interest, which are within its 
bounds, will be added others on which stately buildings 
will arise, for works of art or taste, or for instruction in 
natural science, or where monuments will be reared to the 
immortal memory of those who in their day have greatly 
served the State. The cost for embellishment will be less, 
far less, than that of any other great Park of which we have 
knowledge. Even if the cost of its acquisition and adorn- 
ment were never repaid in money, it would be repaid each 
year in the health and enjoyment of the people ; but we en- 
tertain no doubt that the tax income, from increased assess- 
ments of properties surrounding the Park, will soon equal 
the interest upon our permanent investment, and ultimately 



extinguish its cost. Such has been the experience of our 
sister city of New York; where an expenditure exceed- 
ing eleven millions of dollars already yields in the tax 
upon increased assessments of adjacent lands the interest 
upon the entire cost, and adds to this five hundred thou- 
sand dollars per annum toward the extinction of the debt. 
Thus in fourteen years repaying all its cost, and ever after 
by adding largely to the assessable value of real prop- 
erty, enlarging the basis, and diminishing the burden of 
taxation. 

The Committee propose that it be recommended by the 
Commission to the City Councils that the boundaries of 
the Park be fixed and limited as follows, viz. : 

Beginning at a point in the northeasterly line of prop- 
erty owned and occupied by the Reading Railroad Com- 
pany, near the City bridge over the river Schuylkill at 
the Falls, where said northeasterly line is intersected by 
the line dividing property of H. Duhring from that of F. 
Stoever and T. Johnson, extending from thence in a 
southwesterly direction upon said dividing line, and its 
prolongation to the middle of the Ford road ; from thence 
by a line passing through the southeast corner of Forty- 
ninth and Lebanon streets to George's Run; thence 
along the several courses of said Run to a point fourteen 
hundred and eighty-seven and a half feet from the middle 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, measured at right angles 
thereto; thence by a straight line through the northeast 
corner of Forty-third and Hancock streets to the northerly 
side of Girard avenue near Fortieth street; thence by the 
said northerly line of Girard avenue to the easterly side 



8 

of the Junction Railroad as now used ; thence by the said 
easterly side of the Junction Railroad and the Pennsylva- 
nia Railroad to the north side of Haverford street ; thence 
by the northerly side of said Haverford street to the 
westerly side of Bridgewater street; thence by said 
Bridgewater street to the north line -of Bridge street; 
thence by said Bridge street to the west abutment of the 
Suspension Bridge ; thence by the northwesterly side of 
the Suspension Bridge and Callowhill street to the angle 
in said street, on the southwesterly side of Fail mount 
Basin; thence by the northerly side of Callowhill and 
Biddle streets to the westerly side of Twenty-fifth street ; 
thence by the said Twenty-fifth street to the southwesterly 
side of Pennsylvania avenue; thence by the said south- 
westerly side of Pennsylvania avenue to the west side of 
Thirty-third street ; thence across said Pennsylvania ave- 
nue to the northwest corner of Pennsylvania avenue and 
Thirty-third street; thence in a straight line to the north- 
west corner of Columbia avenue and Fortieth street; 
thence in a direct line to the northeast corner of Susque- 
hanna avenue and Thirty-seventh street, or to a point 
where said line will intersect the southerly bounds of 
property owned by the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company; 
and by said property line to such a distance from the shore 
line of the river Schuylkill as will permit the location of a 
carriage road one hundred feet wide upon its margin; 
thence along the said river shore, and its several courses, 
as may be most practicable, at the same distance as above 
specified, (provided said distance shall not exceed one 
hundred and fifty feet,) to a point opposite the intersec- 



tion of the Ridge Turnpike and School Lane; thence 
northwardly to a point on the southwesterly side of said 
Turnpike Road, opposite to the southeasterly side of said 
School Lane; thence by the southwesterly side of the 
Ridge Turnpike Road, and its several courses, to the 
southeasterly side of the Wissahickon Creek; thence by 
the several courses of the southeasterly side of Wissahick- 
on Creek to the Schuylkill river; thence across the water 
course of said river to the northeasterly line of the Read- 
ing Railroad Company's property as now occupied and in 
use at the city boundary line ; thence along said north- 
easterly line, as now occupied and used by said railroad 
company, to the place of beginning. 

The Committee further recommend that an avenue, not 
less than one hundred feet in width, be laid out and 
opened along the entire outer line of the Park, commenc- 
ing at Girard avenue and thence extending to the western 
end of the Falls Bridge ; and extending on the eastern 
side from the intersection of Pennsylvania avenue and 
Thirty-third street, northward by the Park boundary to 
the line of Laurel Hill Cemetery, as extended, and thence 
westwardly by said line to the river. 

The Committee recommend that these lines be denned 
and established as constituting the permanent boundaries 
of the Park; but they also recommend that a carriage 
road of noble proportions be laid out, commencing at Bel- 
mont avenue at a point south of City avenue, where the 
lines of Roberts' Hollow, if extended, would intersect 
said Belmont avenue, and thence by courses and distances 
of said Hollow, in the most practicable way to the foot of 
City avenue upon the Schuylkill, at which point a bridge 



10 

should be constructed to the mouth of the Wissahickon 
on the opposite shore. 

They also recommend that the control of the Wissa- 
hickon, and of both shores of that creek — within narrow 
limits, yet such as will suffice to protect the margin of the 
stream from impurities, and preserve the picturesque 
character of its scenery — be acquired by the City and 
used in connection with the Park. 

Within these boundaries are contained, as nearly as the 
Committee can estimate, including the water area, and 
excluding the proposed road on the western side of the 
river, through Roberts' Hollow, and also excluding the 
lines along the Wissahickon, about 1,619 acres, divided as 
follows : 

Acres. 
On the western side of the river, from Bridge street 

to Girard avenue 104 

North of Girard avenue , 930 

Total on the west bank 1,034 

On the east side of the river, in Fairmount, Lemon 

Hill, and Sedgely estates 140 

From Thirty-third street and Pennsylvania avenue 

to Laurel Hill purchase 117 

In the road passing along the front of Laurel Hill 

to Upper Falls village 16 

In the meadow and wooded knoll between the 

Eidge road and the river, extending to the 

mouth of the Wissahickon 40 

In Peters' Island l£ 

Total on east side 314^ 

Water area in the river from Fairmount to the 

Wissahickon 270 

Total land and water area l,618i 

Of this land, about 600 acres on the western side of the 
river, and 151 acres on the eastern side, are beyond the 



11 

limits heretofore by law embraced in the Park, but their 
possession is essential to the protection of the purity of 
the water, and the establishment of such open grounds as 
the health and enjoyment of the large population for which 
we must provide will speedily require. This additional 
ground is more remote, and therefore much less costly 
than much of the ground which is already contained in 
the Park. 

Six hundred and eighty-five acres of the 1,691, including 
the water area, are already owned by the City, and have 
been paid for, leaving about 934 acres of the proposed 
Park to be acquired. 

In selecting these lines which the Committee recom- 
mend, they have been aided by Messrs. Olmsted & Vaux, 
of New York, and Mr. Robert Morris Copeland, of Boston, 
eminent landscape gardeners, whose large experience in 
such works, excellent judgment and refined and cultivated 
taste, has greatly assisted us. 

In substance they contemplate a carriage-road on either 
margin of the river, extending from the Wire bridge upon 
the western side to City avenue, and upon the eastern side 
to the mouth of the Wissahickon ; and these points being 
united by a bridge, the road so extended along the shores 
of the Wissahickon creek — thus controlling the banks of 
the river and its chiefest tributary, and securing the purity 
of their waters. The outer lines on either shore are so 
adjusted as to command such adjacent grounds as, by their 
natural beauty and extent, may best afford a noble Park 
for the health and enjoyment of all the people forever. 

Aside from the daily increasing and already almost vital 
necessity of controlling these grounds for the protection of 



12 

our water supply, their beauty and their fitness for Park 
uses is such that posterity will utter never-ceasing re- 
proaches if we permit this last opportunity of securing 
them to pass unimproved, for if we fail now to obtain 
them, their enhanced cost will soon place them beyond 
our reach. To no other city is there afforded the chance, 
at a cost so small, of preserving and perfecting its water 
supply, and of providing a Park of such unrivalled beauty. 
Other cities have expended more than three times the 
possible cost of obtaining and adapting these grounds, in 
providing a park alone, and have found the taxes derived 
from increased assessments in the neighborhood of their 
park adequate within five years to pay more than the 
interest upon the entire expenditure. Viewed even in a 
selfish light, this Park must become an advantage to the 
revenue ; viewed in the far nobler light of its importance 
to the health and happiness of long-coming generations, 
its value is beyond price. 

In the full conviction that these and other reasons, too 
numerous for detail, yet hardly less persuasive than those 
embodied in this report, will induce its passage, the Com- 
mittee have prepared an Ordinance, which they report 
herewith, and recommend that after its approval by the 
Commission it be sent to the City Councils, with an earnest 
request for its enactment by that body. 

THEO. CUYLEE, Chairman, 
GEO. G-. MEADE, 
STRICKLAND KNEASS, 
FREDERICK GRAFF, 
JOS. HARRISON, Jr. 

- Committee Plans and Improvements. 



13 



AN ORDINANCE 

Appropriating ground for public purposes, pursuant to the Acts of Assembly em- 
powering the City of Philadelphia so to do ; also defining the limits, and providing 
for the improvement of Fairmouut Park. 

Section 1. The Select and Common Councils of the City 
of Philadelphia do ordain, That Fairmouiit Park shall 
consist of the area of water and of ground which is 
embraced within the following limits, to wit: beginning 
at a point in the northeasterly line of property owned and 
occupied by the Reading Railroad Company, near the City 
bridge over the river Schuylkill at the Falls, where said 
northeasterly line is intersected by the line dividing prop- 
erty of H. Duhring from that of F. Stoever and T. John- 
son, extending from thence in a southwesterly direction 
upon said dividing line and its prolongation to the middle 
of the Ford road; from thence by a line passing through 
the southeast corner of Forty-ninth and Lebanon streets to 
George's Run ; thence along the several courses of said Run 
to a point fourteen hundred and eighty-seven and a half 
feet from the middle of the Pennsylvania Railroad, meas- 
ured at right angles thereto; thence by a straight line 
through the northeast corner of Forty-third and Hancock 
streets to the northerly side of Girard avenue near Fortieth 
street ; thence by the said northerly line of Girard avenue 
to the easterly side of the Junction Railroad as now used ; 
thence by the said easterly side of the Junction Railroad 
and the Pennsylvania railroad to the north side of Haver- 
ford street ; thence by the northerly side of said Haver- 
ford street to the westerly side of Bridgewater street; 



14 

thence by the said Bridgewater street to the north line of 
Bridge street; thence by said Bridge street to the west 
abutment of the Suspension bridge ; thence by the north- 
westerly side of the Suspension bridge and Callowhill 
street to the angle in said street, on the southwesterly side 
of Fairmount basin; thence by » the northerly side of Cal- 
lowhill and Biddle streets to the westerly side of Twenty- 
fifth street; thence by "the said Twenty-fifth street to the 
southwesterly side of Pennsylvania avenue ; thence by the 
said southwesterly side of Pennsylvania avenue to the west 
side of Thirty-third street ; thence across said Pennsylvania 
avenue to the northwest corner of Pennsylvania avenue 
and Thirty-third street; thence in a straight line to the 
northwest corner of Columbia avenue and Fortieth street; 
thence in a direct line to the northeast corner of Susque- 
hanna avenue and Thirty-seventh street, or to a point 
where said line will intersect the southerly bounds of 
property owned by the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company ; 
and by said property line to such a distance from the 
shore line of the river Schuylkill as will permit the loca- 
tion of a carriage road one hundred feet wide upon its 
margin; thence along the said river shore, and its several 
courses, as may be most practicable, at the same distance 
as above specified, (provided said distance shall not exceed 
one hundred and fifty feet,) to a point opposite the inter- 
section of the Eidge turnpike and School lane; thence 
northwardly to a point on the southwesterly side of said 
turnpike road, opposite to the southeasterly side of said 
School lane ; thence by the southwesterly side of the Ridge 
turnpike road and its several courses to the southeasterly 



15 

side of the Wissahickon creek; thence by the several 
courses of the southeasterly side of Wissahickon creek to 
the Schuylkill river; thence across the water course of 
said river to the northeasterly line of the Reading Rail- 
road Company's property, as now occupied and in use, at 
the city boundary line; thence along said northeasterly 
line, as now occupied and used by said railroad company, 
to the place of beginning. Excepting, nevertheless, hereout 
the several Water AVorks and their appurtenances, which 
are included within these boundaries, and such uses of the 
premises immediately adjacent to the same as the City may 
from time to time require for the purposes of its Water 
Department ; and saving the rights and franchises of the 
Schuylkill Navigation Company, and the Philadelphia and 
Reading Connecting and Junction Railroad Companies, 
as now provided by law. 

Sec. 2. That there shall be laid out and constructed a 
road of easy and practicable grades, extending from the 
intersection of the northerly line of the Park by Belmont 
avenue, on the westerly side of the river Schuylkill, to the 
head of Roberts' Hollow ; and thence along the said hollow 
and the river Schuylkill to the foot of City avenue ; laid 
out with ground contiguous thereto for ornamentation, of 
such width and so constructed as the Commissioners of 
Fairmount Park, appointed under authority of the Act of 
the General Assembly of the Commonwealth, may deter- 
mine. And the City of Philadelphia hereby declares its 
design and intent to make such road and its contiguous 
ground a part of the aforesaid Park; and it hereby 
authorizes said Commissioners to ascertain by proper sur- 



16 

vey, and report its boundaries, so that the same may be 
duly appropriated. And the said Commissioners shall in 
like manner lay out and cause to be opened an avenue 
outside of and extending along so much of the boundary 
of the Park as is between the point of beginning in the 
description given in the first section of this Ordinance 
and Girard avenue ; which new avenue shall be not less 
than one hundred feet in width ; and in like manner on 
the easterly side of the river they shall lay out and cause 
to be opened a similar avenue, extending outside of and 
along the Park boundary, from the intersection of Thirty- 
third street and Pennsylvania avenue; northwardly to the 
southerly line of Laurel Hill, as extended, and thence 
westwardly along said line to the river Schuylkill. And 
the said Commission are hereby authorized and empowered 
to exercise over the said new avenues, and also over so 
much of Girard avenue as is included within the limits of 
the Park, such authority as may be requisite for their 
proper laying out, decoration, and improvement, and for 
their preservation as public highways adjacent to the 
Park. 

Sec. 3. The City of Philadelphia hereby declares its 
intention to appropriate the shores of the Wissahickon 
creek, on both sides of the same, from its mouth to such 
point as may hereafter be determined by said Park Com- 
missioners, and of such width as may embrace the road 
now passing along the same, and may also protect the 
purity of the water of said creek, and preserve the beauty 
of the scenery upon its banks, so that the same may be 
hereafter added to Fairmount Park, and constitute a part 



17 

of the same. And the said Commissioners of Fairmount 
Park are hereby authorized and empowered, with the aid 
of a proper survey, to define the appropriate limits of the 
ground proper to be taken for Park uses upon both shores 
of the Wissahickon, and to report the same for such definite 
legislation thereon as may be requisite and proper for the 
Councils of the City of Philadelphia. 

Sec. 4. The City of Philadelphia, in pursuance of the 
several Acts of Assembly enabling it so to do, and of any 
and all Acts of the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth conferring such power upon it, does hereby appro- 
priate and set apart forever the area of land and water 
comprised within the limits prescribed in the preceding 
sections of this Ordinance, as an open public ground and 
Park for the preservation of the purity of the Schuylkill 
water, and of the health and enjoyment of the people 
forever. 

Sec. 5. That in addition to the powers conferred, by the 
Act of Assembly creating the Commission, upon the Com- 
missioners of Fairmount Park, the City of Philadelphia 
hereby authorizes and empowers said Commission to take 
possession of so much of the ground contained within the 
limits set forth in the preceding sections of this Ordinance 
as may be beyond the limits of the ground appropriated 
by or under the Act of Assembly establishing said Com- 
mission, and to exercise over the same, as part of Pair- 
mount Park, all the powers and authorities which are 
requisite for its appropriation, its laying out and adorn- 
ment, as part of the Park; subject, nevertheless, to such 



18 

appropriation as may, from time to time, be made for such 
purposes by the Councils of the City. 

Sec. 6. That the said Commission be and they are hereby 
authorized and empowered to negotiate with the owners 
of so much of the land included within the aforesaid limits 
as is beyond the boundaries mentioned in the Act of Assem- 
bly establishing the Commission, and to agree with them 
if it be practicable as to the price of their land; and if it 
is not practicable so to do, that the Law Department of 
the City be and the same is hereby authorized and directed, 
upon the request of said Commission, to take proper steps in 
the law for the ascertaining and adjusting of the damages 
attending the taking of such land. 



ACT OF ASSEMBLY, 

The Passage of which is Recommended. 



A SUPPLEMENT 

To an Act, entitled "An Act appropriating ground for public purposes, in the City 
of Philadelphia," approved the twenty-sixth day of March, Anno Domini ci»e 
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven. 

Section 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 
General Assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by tlve 
authority of the same, That the boundaries of the Fairmount 
Park in the City of Philadelphia shall be the following, to 
wit : Beginning at a point in the northeasterly line of 
property owned and occupied by the Reading Railroad 
Company, near the City bridge over the river Schuylkill at 
the Falls, where said northeasterly line is intersected by 
the line dividing property of H. Duhring from that of F. 
Stoever and T. Johnson ; extending from thence in a south- 
westerly direction upon said dividing line and its prolon- 
gation to the middle of the Ford road ; from thence by a 
line passing through the southeast corner of Forty-ninth 
and Lebanon streets to George's Run ; thence along the 
several courses of said Run to a point fourteen hundred 
and eighty-seven and a half feet from the middle of the 
Pennsylvania Railroad, measured at right angles thereto ; 
thence by a straight line through the northeast corner of 
Forty-third and Hancock streets to the northerly side 01 



20 

Girard avenue near Fortieth street; thence by the said 
northerly line of Girard avenue to the easterly side of the 
Junction Railroad as now used ; thence by the said easterly 
side of the Junction Railroad and the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road to the north side of Haverford street ; thence by the 
northerly side of said Haverford street to the westerly side 
of Bridgewater street ; thence by said Briclgewater street 
to the north line of Bridge street ; thence by said Bridge 
street to the west abutment of the Suspension bridge; 
thence by the northwesterly side of the Suspension bridge 
and Callowhill street to the angle in said street, on the 
southwesterly side of Fairmount basin; thence by the 
northerly side of Callowhill and Biddle streets to the 
westerly side of Twenty-fifth street; thence by the said 
Twenty-fifth street to the southwesterly side of Pennsyl- 
vania avenue; thence by the said southwesterly side of 
Pennsylvania avenue to the west side of Thirty-third 
street; thence across said Pennsylvania avenue to the 
northwest corner of Pennsylvania avenue and Thirty- 
third street; thence in a straight line to the northwest 
corner of Columbia avenue and Fortieth street ; thence in 
a direct line to the northeast corner of Susquehanna 
avenue and Thirty-seventh street, or to a point where said 
line will intersect the southerly bounds of property owned 
by the Laurel Hill Cemetery Company, and by said pro- 
perty line to such a distance from the shore line of the 
river Schuylkill as will permit the location of a carriage 
road one hundred feet wide upon its margin ; thence along 
said river shore and its several courses as may be most 
practicable, at the same distance as above specified, (pro- 



21 

vided said distance shall not exceed one hundred and fifty 
feet,) to a point opposite the intersection of the Ridge 
turnpike and School lane ; thence northwardly to a point 
on the southwesterly side of said turnpike road opposite 
to the southeasterly side of said School lane ; thence by 
the southwesterly side of the Ridge turnpike road and its 
several courses to the southeasterly side of the Wissahickon 
creek ; thence by the several courses of the said south- 
easterly side of Wissahickon creek to the Schuylkill river ; 
thence across the water course of said river to the north- 
easterly line of the Reading Railroad Company's property 
as now occupied and in use, at the City boundary line ; 
thence along said northeasterly line, as now occupied and 
used by said railroad company, to the place of beginning ; 
excepting, nevertheless, hereout the several AVater Works 
and their appurtenances, which are included within these 
boundaries, and such uses of the premises immediately 
adjacent to the same, as the City of Philadelphia may from 
time to time require for the purposes of its water depart- 
ment. 

Sec. 2. That the title to and ownership of the ground 
within said boundaries shall be vested in the City of 
Philadelphia, excepting therefrom so much as shall be 
required by the Schuylkill Navigation Company, the Phila- 
delphia and Reading, the Junction and Connecting Rail- 
road Companies for the execution of their franchises as 
now provided by law. 

Sec. 3. So much of the ground as was embraced in 
the Act to which this is a Supplement, approved the 
twenty-sixth day of March, one thousand eight hundred 



22 

and sixty-seven, and is not included in the above boun- 
daries, is hereby released from all claim of title by the said 
city, with the same effect as if it had never been included. 

Sec. 4. That all the grounds taken within the boun- 
daries of the Fairmount Park by the first section of 
this Act, shall be subject to all the powers and control 
given by the Act to which this is a Supplement to the City 
of Philadelphia and the Park Commissioners designated 
by or appointed under said Act; and the owners of all 
ground taken for the Park, and others interested therein, 
shall be compensated as in said Act is directed and pro- 
vided. 

Sec. 5. The said Commissioners shall have power and 
authority, from time to time, to vacate any street or road 
within the boundaries of the Park, (excepting Girard 
avenue,) and to open for public use such other roads, 
avenues and streets therein as they deem necessary. 

Sec. 6. The Councils of the City of Philadelphia shall 
cause, under the supervision of the Department of Surveys, 
such alterations of the plan of survey of the Twenty-fourth 
Ward as lies between Fairmount Park as by this Act 
established, the Pennsylvania Railroad and the City avenue, 
and of the contiguous parts of the Twentieth and Twenty- 
eighth Wards, as may become necessary or expedient by 
reason of the extension as aforesaid of the limits of the 
Fairmount Park, and cause the same to be established in 
manner as now provided by law for revising or laying out 
plans of survey in and for the City of Philadelphia ; and 
shall lay out an avenue as one of the streets of the city, 
of the width of not less than one hundred feet, as a boun- 



23 

dary of the Park on the southwest, west and northwest sides 
thereof, extending from Girard avenue to the river Schuyl- 
kill, at or near the Falls bridge ; and also upon the eastern 
side of the river from the intersection of Pennsylvania 
avenue and Thirty-third street, northward along the boun- 
dary of said Park to the river Schuylkill. 

Sec. 7. The jurisdiction of the Commissioners of the 
Park shall extend to the breadth of the footway next the 
Park, in all avenues or streets which shall bound upon the 
Park, and they shall direct the manner in which such foot- 
ways shall be laid out, curbed, paved, planted and orna- 
mented ; which footways shall not be less than twenty feet 
in width on any avenue or street of the width of one hun- 
dred feet, and of like proportion upon any street or avenue 
of a greater or less width, unless otherwise directed by the 
Commissioners. 

Sec. 8. The said Park Commissioners or jury who shall 
assess the compensation to the owners for the ground 
taken, shall ascertain and make compensation for build- 
ings, as well as the ground taken, if the Park Commission- 
ers shall desire to retain the buildings ; but all buildings 
and machinery and fixtures not required by the Park 
Commission, shall be removed by the owners thereof 
whenever payment of the compensation awarded them 
shall be made or tendered to them; and upon such pay- 
ment or tender, the Park Commissioners shall forth- 
with take possession of the premises. If any owner or 
lessee of ground taken cannot be found, notice of the 
taking and valuation of his land shall be given by adver- 
tisement in two daily papers, published in Philadelphia, 



24 

six times, and in the Legal Intelligencer twice ; and the 
amount awarded in such case to the owner or lessee, shall 
remain in the City treasury, until such owner shall produce 
the decree of the court having jurisdiction in the premises, 
ordering the said moneys to be paid to him or his legal 
representatives. 

Sec. 9. The said Commissioners and jury may make 
partial or special reports, from time to time, to the court, 
as they may be ready to do so, and the court may act upon 
such reports separately; and the powers of the jury shall 
continue, unless limited by the court, or they be required 
by the court to make report, until they shall have reported 
on all the cases on which they have been appointed, 
although a term or terms of the court shall have inter- 
vened ; and jurors may be appointed upon one or more 
cases, according to the order of the court made; and 
whenever any report of the said Commissioners or of the 
jury shall have been confirmed by the court, the valuation 
made shall be forthwith payable by the City of Philadel- 
phia. 

Sec. 10. The City of Philadelphia shall be authorized to 
raise by loans, from time to time, such sums of money as 
shall be necessary to make compensation for all grounds 
heretofore taken or to be taken for said Fairmount Park, 
and for the laying out and construction thereof for public 
use; for the permanent care and improvement thereof, 
and for all culverts and other means of preserving the 
Schuylkill water pure for the use of the citizens of said 
city ; and shall annually assess taxes for keeping in repair 
and good order the said Park; and shall also provide for 



the payment of the interest on all said loans, and the usual 
sinking fund for the redemption thereof. 

Sec. 11. The said Park Commissioners shall, from time 
to time, appoint such officers, agents and subordinates as 
they may deem necessary, for the purposes of this Act and 
the Act to which this is a Supplement ; and they shall pre- 
scribe the duties and the compensation to be paid them ; 
and so much of the second section of the Act to which this 
is a Supplement, as requires that the Secretary shall be 
chosen from the Commissioners, be and the same is hereby 
repealed. 

Sec. 12. It shall be lawful for said Park Commissioners 
to acquire title to the whole of any tract of land, part of 
which shall fall within the boundaries mentioned in the 
first section of this Act, and take conveyance thereof in 
the name of the City of Philadelphia ; and such part thereof 
as shall lie beyond the said Park limits, again to sell and 
convey in absolute fee simple to any purchaser or pur- 
chasers thereof, by deeds to be signed by the Mayor, under 
the seal of the City, to be affixed by direction of Councils ; 
either for cash, or part cash and part to be secured by 
bond and mortgage to the City, paying all cash into the 
City treasury : Provided, that the proceeds of such sales 
shall be paid into the sinking fund for the redemption of 
the loan created under the provisions of this Act: Pro- 
vided also, that no Commissioner, nor any officer under 
the Park Commission, shall in any wise be directly or in- 
directly interested in any such sale of lands by the Com- 
missioners as aforesaid; and if any Commissioner or officer 
aforesaid shall act in violation of this proviso, he shall, if 



26 

a Commissioner, be subject to expulsion; if an officer, to 
be discharged, by a majority of votes of the Board of Park 
Commissioners, after an opportunity afforded o f explan a- 
tion and defence. 

Sec. 13. The said Board of Commissioners shall annu- 
ally hereafter, in the month of December, make to the 
Mayor of the City of Philadelphia, a report of their pro- 
ceedings, and a statement of their expenditures for the 
preceding year. 

Sec. 14. The said Park Commissioners shall have exclu- 
sive power to lease from year to year, all houses and build- 
ings within the Park limits, which may be let without 
prejudice to the interests and purposes of the Park, by 
leases to be signed by their President and Secretary, and 
to collect the rents and pay them into the City treasury. 

Sec. 15. All houses and buildings now built or to be 
built on any part of the Park grounds, by or for boat or 
skating clubs, or zoological or other purposes, shall be 
taken to have rights subordinate to the public purposes 
intended to be subserved by acquiring and laying out the 
Park, and shall be subject to the regulations of said Park 
Commissioners, under licenses which shall be approved by 
the Commission, and signed by the President and Secre- 
tary, and will subject them to their supervision and to 
removal, or surrender to the City, whensoever the said 
Commissioners may require. 

Sec. 16. The said Park Commissioners shall have power 
to accept in the name and behalf of the City of Philadel- 
phia, devises, bequests and donations of lands, moneys, 
objects of art and natural history, maps and books, or 



27 

other things, upon such trusts as may be prescribed by the 
testator or donor; provided such trusts be satisfactory to 
the Commission, and compatible with the purposes of said 
Park. 

Sec. 17. None of the Park Commissioners, nor any per- 
son employed by them, shall have power to create any 
debt or obligation to bind said Board of Commissioners, 
except by the express authority of the said Commissioners 
at a meeting duly convened. 

Sec. 18. The said Park Commissioners shall have the 
power to govern, manage, lay out, plant and ornament the 
said Fairmount Park, and to maintain the same in good 
order and repair; and to construct all proper bridges, 
buildings, railways, and other improvements therein, and 
to repress all disorders therein under the provisions here- 
inafter contained. 

Sec. 19. The said Park Commissioners shall employ, 
equip and pay a Park police, adequate to maintain good 
order therein, and in all houses thereupon, and to dis- 
charge them at pleasure; which police shall be subject to 
the orders of the Mayor upon any emergency. 

Sec. 20. That the said Park Commissioners shall have 
authority to license the laying down, and the use for a 
term of years, from, time to time, of such passenger rail- 
ways as they may think will comport with the use and en- 
joyment of the said Park by the public, upon such terms 
as said Commissioners may agree; all emoluments from 
which shall be paid into the City treasury. 

Sec. 21. The said Park shall be under the following 



28 

rules and regulations, and such others as the Park Com- 
missioners may from time to time ordain. 

I. No persons shall turn cattle, goats, swine or horses 
loose into the Park. 

II. No persons shall carry fire-arms, or shoot birds in 
the Park, or within fifty yards thereof, or throw stones or 
other missiles therein. 

III. No one shall cut, break, or in anywise injure or de- 
face the trees, shrubs, plants, turf, or any of the buildings, 
fences, structures or statuary, or foul any fountains or 
springs within the Park. 

IV. No person shall drive or ride therein at a rate ex- 
ceeding seven miles an hour. 

V. No one shall ride or drive therein, upon any other 
than upon the avenues and roads. 

VI. No coach or vehicle used for hire, shall stand upon 
any part of the Park for the purpose of hire, nor except 
in waiting for persons taken by it into the Park, unless 
in either case at points designated by the Commission. 

VII. No wagon or vehicle of burden or traffic shall pass 
through the Park, except upon such road or avenue as 
shall be designated by the Park Commissioners for burden 
transportation. 

VIII. No street railroad car shall come within the lines 
of the Park without the license of the Park Commission. 

IX. No person shall expose any article for sale within 
the Park without the previous license of the Park Com- 
mission. 

X. No person shall take ice from the Schuylkill within 



29 

the Park without the license of the said Commission first 
had, upon such terms as they may think proper. 

XI. No threatening, abusive, insulting, or indecent 
language shall be allowed in the Park. 

XII. No gaming shall be allowed therein, nor any 
obscene or indecent act therein. 

XIII. No person shall go in to bathe within the Park. 

XIV. No person shall fish or disturb the water-fowl in 
the pool, or any pond, or birds in any part of the Park, 
nor discharge any fire-works therein, nor affix any bills or 
notices therein. 

XV. No person shall have any musical, theatrical, or 
other entertainment therein, without the license of the 
Park Commissioners. 

XVI. No person shall enter or leave the Park except by 
such gates or avenues as may be for such purpose arranged. 

XVII. No gathering or meeting of any kind, assembled 
through advertisement, shall be permitted in the Park 
without the previous permission of the Commission ; nor 
shall any gathering or meeting for political purposes in 
the Park be permitted under any circumstances. > 

Sec. 22. A.ny person who shall violate any of said rules 
and regulations, and any others which shall be ordained 
by the said Park Commissioners, for the government of said 
Park, not inconsistent with this act, or the laws and con 
stitutions of this State and United States — the power to 
ordain which rules and regulations is hereby expressly 
given to said Commissioners — shall be guilty of a misde- 
meanor, and shall pay such fine as may be prescribed by 
said Park Commissioners, not to exceed five dollars for 



80 

each and every violation thereof, to be recovered before 
any alderman of said City, as debts of that amount are re- 
coverable, which fines shall be paid into the City treasury; 
Provided, That if said Park Commissioners should license 
the taking of ice in said Park, or the entry of any street 
railroad car therein, or articles for sale, or musical enter- 
tainments, it may be with such compensation as they may 
think proper, to be paid into the City treasury; And 
provided, That any person violating any of said rules and 
regulations shall be further liable to the full extent of any 
damage by him or her committed, in trespass or other ac- 
tion; and any tenant or licensed party who shall violate 
the said rules, or any of them, or consent to or permit the 
same to be violated on his or her or their premises, shall 
forfeit his or her or their lease or license, and shall be 
liable to be forthwith removed by a vote of the Park Com- 
mission ; and every lease and license shall contain a clause 
making it cause of forfeiture thereof for the lessee or 
party licensed to violate or permit or suffer any violation 
of said rules and regulations or any of them. It shall be 
the duty of the police appointed to duty in the Park, 
without warrant, forthwith to arrest any offender against 
the preceding rules and regulations, whom they may de- 
tect in the commission of such offence, and to take the 
person or persons so arrested forthwith before a magis 
trate having competent jurisdiction. 

Sec. 23. All rents, license charges and fees; all fines, 
proceeds of all sales, except of lands purchased, and profits 
of whatsoever kind to be collected, received, or howsoever 
realized, shall be paid into the City treasury, as a fund to 



31 

be exclusively appropriated by Councils for Park purposes, 
under the direction of said Commission: Provided, that 
moneys or property given or bequeathed to the Park Com- 
missioners upon specified trusts shall be received and re- 
ceipted for by their Treasurer, and held and applied ac- 
cording to the trusts specified. 

Sec. 24. That the Councils of the City of Philadelphia 
be and they are hereby authorized to widen and straighten 
any street laid upon the public plans of said City, as they 
may think requisite to improve the approaches to Fair- 
mount Park. 

Sec. 25. That nothing in this Act contained shall sus- 
pend or affect any proceeding pending in court under any 
existing law ; but the same shall be proceeded in as if this 
Act had not been passed. 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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